Monday 30 June 2008 - West Air Europe BAe ATP LX-WAP arrives to operate for FedEx

West Air Europe BAe ATP LX-WAP positioned in during the late
afternoon to operate the evening FedEx service to Paris CDG in

place of the usual Air Contractors ATR 72

Saturday 28 June 2008

Friday 27 June 2008 - MyAir Airbus A320 EC-JIB flying for LTE

LTE again used Airbus A320 EC-JIB on their weekly IT flight from

Tenerife with the aircraft landing on runway 33 and running to the

end - this allowed the full titles on this logo jet to be photographed

- it is advertising the new VW Tiguan and still wears MyAir titles

and tail scheme from its recent lease to that operator

.

Wednesday 25 June 2008 - Adria Canadair CRJ200 S5-AAJ operates flight to Ljubljana

Adria Canadair RJ 200 S5-AAJ operated their
weekly flight to Ljubljana

.

Cessna 510 Mustang 9A-CSG was a visitor to the Elmdon apron before
departing during the afternoon - it was the first visit of type to BHX

Tuesday 24 June 2008 - Agusta AW 139 EI-MLY visits the Elmdon apron

Agusta AW139 EI-MLY was an afternoon visitor to the Elmdon apron

.

European Boeing 737-200 G-CEAE positioned in from Gatwick

to park up on the 80's stands prior to operating a charter

to Funchal later in the week

Thursday 19 June 2008 - Brussels Airbus A319 OO-SSP makes its first visit to BHX

Brussels Airlines used Airbus A319 OO-SSP on their late

evening flight from/to Brussels - its first visit to BHX

.
Ryanair Boeing 737-800 EI-DAF operated their evening service

to Dublin - the aircraft wears additional "City of Nykoping" titles
.

Falcon 2000EX OY-CLN was an afternoon visitor to the Elmdon apron....
.
.... where FAI Air Ambulance Lear Jet 55 D-CONU was parked
up for the day after arriving on Wednesday evening

Wednesday 18 June 2008 - Ryanair Boeing 737 EI-DLG with "Bye, Bye, LOT" titles

Ryanair used Boeing 737-8AS EI-DLG on their lunchtime

service from Dublin - the aircraft wears

"Zegnamy PLL LOT" titles - or "Bye Bye LOT"

bmibaby launch winter 2008 flights programme from Birmingham Airport

bmibaby (WW), has announced stage one of winter 2008 flights
from Birmingham International Airport will go on sale today,

Wednesday, 18 June 2008
.
Six key Mediterranean destinations will be available to book:

Alicante, Faro, Malaga, Murcia, Palma, Nice plus flights to

Geneva. More routes will be announced shortly

During the peak ski season, skiers will benefit from eight flights

a week from Birmingham to Geneva, the gateway to the French

and Swiss Alps. Frequent flights are also available to Malaga to

access the Sierra Nevada, another great region for skiing

.
Winter flights from Birmingham to: Frequency:
Malaga - up to 4 flights per week
Alicante - up to 4 flights per week
Faro - 1 flight per week
Murcia - 2 flights per week
Nice - Travel from February 2009 - 2 flights per week
Palma - 2 flights per week
Geneva - up to 8 flights per week

Crawford Rix, managing director, bmibaby, said: "We are
delighted to announce that stage one of our winter 2008 services
from Birmingham International Airport is now on sale. There
are six key Mediterranean destinations to choose from. Sun lovers
and holiday home owners will benefit from the frequent flights
to top winter sun destinations such as Malaga, Alicante and

Murcia. Flights to Geneva are also back for winter, providing
a gateway to top European ski and snowboarding resorts"

"More winter 2008 routes will be released shortly, we advise

everyone to keep on the look out for phase two of our winter launch
in order to grab our lowest fares to some exciting destinations"

.

Wednesday 18 June 2008

Work begins on construction of the new "International Pier" at Birmingham Airport

An artist’s impression of the new "International Pier"

Birmingham International Airport has commenced work on its new

"International Pier" with the start of the project commemorated
by a "ground breaking" ceremony today, Wednesday 18 June 2008
.

Councillor Ted Richards, Solihull Metropolitan Council, Will Heynes,
Birmingham Airport, John O’Brien, Laing O’Rourke, and
Councillor Len Gregory, Birmingham City Council, help to lay the
foundations for the new International Pier

Birmingham International Airport's new "International Pier"
will replace the current out-dated facility constructed in 1984.
It is the single biggest investment that the Airport has made
in over 20 years - a massive £45 million state of the art
extension to Terminal 1

.

The new Pier will be a three storey construction; 240 metres long
and 24 metres wide. Departing passengers will be accommodated
on the top level, with arriving passengers on the middle level
and office accommodation for airline and handling agents
on the ground floor

.

The new facility will provide air-bridged aircraft parking for
seven wide-bodied aircraft and enough space to serve 13 smaller
aircraft at any given time. The Pier will also provide vertical
segregation to separate inbound and outbound passenger traffic,
in line with national security requirements. New gate lounges
for passengers will also be created

.

An artist’s impression of the departure level of the "International Pier"

The building will be in keeping with the bright and modern

architecture seen throughout the terminals today. It will also

enable the Airport to accommodate 21st century aircraft to prepare
for future demand and meet Birmingham Airport’s exciting
aspirations to improve global connectivity from the Midlands
.
Will Heynes, the Airport’s Operations Director, who has overall

responsibility for the project, explained: "This investment will
provide the Airport with facilities to enable it to meet the
growing demand for international services to global destinations
from Birmingham. Once complete, the Pier will provide

a high quality gateway into the Midlands for foreign visitors
.
"The building will be capable of accommodating "next
generation" environmentally-efficient wide-bodied aircraft
such as the Airbus A350 or the Boeing 787 "Dreamliner", as
well as the larger aircraft types we see at Birmingham today
like the Airbus A330 and Boeing 747 and 777"
.
The building has been designed to encompass the latest
building regulations and innovative construction practises.
It meets the latest environmental standards and
performances for buildings of this type
.
The Project Manager on the construction is Mace Limited, the

Architect is Pascall & Watson, and the Structural, Civil and Fire

Engineering is by Buro Happold. Mechanical and Electrical
design is by Hulley and Kirkwood, the CDM Coordinator is
Mace Sustain and the Cost Management Consultant is
Faithful and Gould. Construction will be carried out by

Laing O’Rourke Construction North Limited

.

Wednesday 18 June 2008

Tuesday 17 June 2008 - Ryanair commence based operations from Birmingham!!

Ryanair commenced BHX based operations with Boeing 737-800

EI-DPE operating their first service to Dinard....
.

.... Terminal 2 was in party mood for the occasion!
.
Titan Boeing 737-300QC G-ZAPZ operated a charter flight to Lisbon
.
Loganair used Saab 340 G-LGNK in place of the regular aircraft
- G-LGNN - on the afternoon flybe service to Dundee. The aircraft
is in basic flybe colours as it is normally used on flights still operated
under British Airways flight numbers

Birmingham Airport invests in new "drop and go" car parking facility

The new "drop and go" facility is adjacent to both terminals

Birmingham International Airport is spending £2 million on adapting

and improving the traffic flow and parking arrangements for drivers

dropping-off and collecting passengers, following last year’s security

alert at Glasgow Airport. The Airport is now urging drivers to use the

facilities sensibly to ensure that traffic flows are kept moving, and to

use the car parking arrangements in the way they are intended
.
A major piece of work has already been carried out on the "Drop

and Go" facility, which is designed for drivers dropping-off

passengers only. This area was previously known by many users as

the Short-Stay Surface Car Park, adjacent to the Terminals, but the

new name change of "Drop and Go" describes exactly what it is

intended to do. This will overall increase the number of ‘drop off’

spaces compared to the previous set down areas available

prior to June 2007
.
Richard Gill, the Airport’s Head of Market Development

- Commercial, explains, “The Airport was forced to shut down the set

down roads at the front of its two terminals within minutes of the

Glasgow Airport attack in June 2007, causing confusion for

passengers and challenges for the Airport Company
.
”Since then, we’ve had some major challenges and we understand

that many drivers have been disappointed by the previous

arrangement. However, I believe my team and our commercial

partners have made the best out of a very difficult situation and we

can now move forward
.
“The investment we have made, to the "Drop and Go" facility in

particular, will help access, safety and speed of dropping people at

the Airport and we urge drivers to only use the "Drop and Go"

facility for dropping-off passengers only, and to use the

Multi-Storey Car Parks for collecting people"
.
To improve the site for drivers who are collecting passengers from

flights into Birmingham, they are advised to park in the Multi-Storey

Car Parks. If drivers need to wait for long periods of time before

their passengers arrive, they can wait for free, up to an hour, in the

surface Long Stay Car Park One. Here, drivers can dwell in a newly

installed waiting facility
.
Work carried out on the "Drop and Go" facility includes installing an

additional entrance lane and realigning all three lanes to run parallel

to each other so that they are used equally. A third exit lane has also

been installed so that there is less likelihood of queues on departure,

and all parking bays have been angled at 45 degrees, in a herring

bone fashion, allowing motorists to use them more efficiently.

There are also special bays for mini buses and disabled drivers
.
The number of pay machines has also been increased and they are

conveniently located throughout the "Drop and Go" area to reduce

drivers’ congestion time
.
Typical prices in "Drop and Go" are £1 for 20 minutes and £3 for

every subsequent 15 minutes thereafter. When picking passengers

up, the Multi-Storey Car Parks are priced at £1 per 30 minutes

and £3.30 per hour; however, after this time the usual short term

charges apply. Alternatively, drivers can wait for their passengers

to call on arrival in Long-Stay Car Park One for free up to one hour

.

Tuesday 17 June 2008

Monday 16 June 2008 - Icejet Dornier 328JET TF-MIO parks up on the Elmdon apron

Dornier 328JET TF-MIO of Icejet arrived from Manchester

mid afternoon and parked up on the Elmdon apron

Saturday 14 June 2008 - RAF C17 ZZ174 visits on a medevac flight

RAF C 17 ZZ174 operated a medivac flight before positioning

back to Brize Norton

.
.
flybe used ATR 72 EI-REJ on their afternoon BE409/410 service

from Belfast City. The aircraft is leased from Aer Arran and is in an

all white scheme without titles following the return from its previous

lease to the now defunct Euromanx

Thursday 12 June 2008 - Blue Line MD 83 F-GMLI takes Neil Diamonds entourage to Dublin

Blue Line MD 83 F-GMLI positioned in to take Neil Diamonds

entourage to Dublin after his concerts at the NIA with the flight

operating from the Elmdon apron

.

While resurfacing work has been in progress on Taxiway Whiskey

- the cul de sac - the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER has been parking

on stand 86C - A6-EBZ operated the flight today

May 2008 passenger figures

It was a busy Spring Bank Holiday weekend

Birmingham International Airport handled 877,232 passengers during
May including 625,770 scheduled passengers and 251,462 charter

passengers spread across the two passenger terminals; surpassing

the previous highest figure recorded for the month of May and a 5.7%

increase over the previous year
.
It is the fourth straight month of record-breaking figures at

Birmingham, with February, March and April also seeing the

Airport handling monthly bests
.
Joe Kelly, Acting Managing Director at Birmingham International

Airport, said, "Again we have seen another record-breaking month

here at the Airport and May has been extremely busy with a number

of new routes launching from Birmingham, offering passengers an

increasing range of destinations to choose from. New services

starting in May included Marseille with Ryanair, Hurghada and

Skiathos with Thomas Cook, Montego Bay and Punta Cana with

Thomsonfly, Hamburg with Lufthansa, Dundee with flybe/Loganair

and Warsaw with bmibaby, which all represents even more great

news for people travelling from their local airport"
.
In May, growth was achieved on non-EU routes of 15.9% and EU of

10.8%, with the Irish Republic seeing an increase of 19.3% and the

Channel Isles a rise of 15.7%
.
Scheduled routes that experienced growth in April include:

Bratislava (+902.7%), Dundee (+556.6%), Marseille (+366.7%),

Rome (+162.7%), Inverness (+104.2%), Bergamo (+100.0%),

Waterford (+78.0%), Ibiza (+70.8%), Split (+60.3%),

Larnaca (+50.9%), Malta (+39.1%), Hamburg (+27.1%),

Mahon (+27%), Krakow (+25.6%), Prague (+17.4%),

Dubai (+16.7%), Dusseldorf (+12.0%), Almeria (+11.1%),

La Rochelle (+10.4%), Paphos (+9.7%), Amsterdam (+9.0%),

Toronto (+8.1%), Tenerife (+7.2%), Palma (+7.2%),

Murcia (+6.3%), Faro (+4.2%) and Aberdeen (+3.8%)
.
Charter traffic which experienced growth were

Austria (+45.7%), Italy (+27.6%), Egypt (+23.7%),

Turkey (+19.5%), Mexico (+13.5%), USA (+12.7%),

Bulgaria (+3.1%) and Spain (+0.6%)
.
Scheduled traffic accounted for 71.3% of the total passenger traffic

in May whilst charter passengers made up the remaining 28.7%.

.

Thursday 12 June 2008

Wednesday 11 June 2008 - Carpatair Fokker 100 YR-FKA flying for Adria

Adria used Fokker 100 YR-FKA, which is leased from Carpatair

of Romania for the summer, on their weekly flight to Ljubljana
.

Aer Arann ATR 72 EI-REN, which is in their new

colour scheme, operated their service to Waterford

Friday 6 June 2008 - Jet options Legacy G-IRSH spends day on the Elmdon apron

Embraer Legacy 600 G-IRSH of Jet Options spent the day parked

up on the Elmdon apron after arriving on delivery from Brasil the

previous evening

Monday 9 June 2008 - Cimber Air Canadair CRJ200 OY-MAV operates charter from Basle

Cimber Air Canadair RJ 200 OY-MAV arrived on a charter flight
from Basle and parked up to night stop on Terminal 1 stand 62

Former Birmingham Airport Managing Director Bob Taylor dies

Former colleagues and employees of Birmingham International

Airport are today saddened by the death of the former Airport
Managing Director, Sir Robert Taylor (Bob), who passed away
peacefully on Saturday 7 June 2008
.
Joe Kelly, Birmingham International Airport's Acting Managing

Director, said, "Bob's effervescent character and larger than life

personality made him a popular and respected businessman,

colleague and regional figure. He was able to engage with people

at all levels and achieve the best of his workforce by making time

to go out onto the floor and familiarise himself with the workforce.

Bob was instrumental in leading the Airport to the position we see

today and he will be missed by all of those who had the pleasure of

knowing, working and learning from him."Bob joined the Airport in

1974 as Assistant Director, at a time when just one million people

used the Elmdon site. He later became Airport Director in 1976 and

led the seamless transfer of the new terminal from Elmdon in 1984,

to the site we see today"

.

Two years later, in 1987, he gained the title of Managing Director

when the `Airport Company' was formed, from the wholly owned

local authority arrangement, and in 1991 hesaw through the opening

of the Eurohub; the worlds first terminal to combine domestic and

international passengers. By the time Bob retired from the Airport

Company in 1994, more than 5 million passengers were using the

facility,placing it well and truly on the world airport map

.

Following Bob's retirement, Brian Summers took over the mantle
of Managing Director. Having worked closely with Bob for more
than 20 years, in the former West Midlands Council and at the
Airport, Brian Summers, said, "Bob was a personal inspiration
to me and I know to many other people. He was admired
throughout the aviation industry and with business friends
across the world. His contribution in putting BIA onto a
serious footing when its whole future was uncertain in the
1970s can not be overstated"

.

On retiring from the Airport, Bob told the Airport workforce
that managing the company had been something of a crusade
for him as he had been at the Airport's opening ceremony in
1939 with his father. He said it had given him enormous
pleasure and fulfilment along the way and Birmingham Airport
had an excellent future ahead with the superb team of people
who had supported him along the way

.

Birmingham International Airport's Chairman, John Hudson,
added, "Such fondness and respect is expressed by those who
worked with Bob for his tremendous contribution in developing
the Midlands premier Airport that we see today. Bob was one
of the guiding spirits that set the Airport on its way and
we are very sorry by the sad news of his death"

.

Bob held the role of Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of
West Midlands from November 1993 until 2006, when
he retired early due to health problems

.

He would have been 76 next Saturday, June 14, and
he and his wife, Sheila, had been married for 50 years

.

Monday 9 June 2008

Ryanair commence operations from Terminal 2

Ryanair (FR) today - Wednesday 4 June 2008 - moved
their flights into Terminal 2 at Birmingham in preparation
for the opening of their Birmingham base on 17 June 2008

.

The first flight - the FR 662/663 from/to Dublin - was
operated by Boeing 737-8AS EI-DAY and after parking
on stand 2 it pushed back for departure "on time"

.

The new Ryanair check in area in Terminal 2

.

Wednesday 4 June 2008

Tuesday 3 June 2008 - European Boeing 737 G-CEAE operates charter flight to Skavsta

European Boeing 737-200 G-CEAE operated a charter flight

to Stockholm Skavsta